Poland has plenty of death metal acts, and all them happen to be ruled by the two giants Behemoth and Vader (who rarely get along and constantly battle each other, leading to a very high yearly death toll), the former happening to be a synonym for giant. But somewhere below roam a quartet of malicious crusaders who have two purposes in life: throw rocks at their rulers' thrones and aptly play some worthy death metal music. These heroes go under the alias of Hate and this is their fifth collection of recordings, Anaclasis: A Haunting Gospel of Malice & Hatred.

The influences of the previously mentioned bands in their music are undeniable, but they don't rely on petty band worshiping and copying to get their way. On the other hand, they have developed their own knack and arsenal of savage riffs for that. The music is riff-oriented and there are always raw, demented and vicious parts to fill you with energy while it transcends into more enigmatic and slower sequences. The songs usually start off crushing, then fade into less rapid tempos before rising back up again to get it over with. Unfortunately for all you virtuoso fanatics who treasure their solos, there is nothing special about them here, just dampened mystical harmonies. Due to the relentless nature and fairly wide selection of truculent leads and patterns, however, this can be excused. The vocalist definitely fulfills his duties quite well, and with passion, but when you hear him, you just can't help but think about Nergal or Piotr Wiwczarek (some crusaders these guys turned out to be…), nevertheless he does his job and we'll leave it at that. There is also a recurring, low raspy noise that appears throughout most of the songs, both beginning and concluding the album, which can be a bit unsettling depending on who you are. The drumming is primarily rooted in the stages of violent blast beat bombardment, but is not without its fair share of versatility, and is most definitely not without insane speed.

Moderate black metal influence is to be found, but it doesn't appear to be radically illustrious. Highlight tracks are out of the question here, a full listen is required to understand and appreciate the album, but if you absolutely insist, "Necropolis" (what an explosive and relentless track), "Malediction" (…the same, really), "Euphoria of a New Breed" (gracefully malevolent) and "Fountains of Blood to Reach Heavens" (really powerful and destructive way to wrap up the album).

Anaclasis seems to be one of the more overlooked releases of 2005 (every year has them, inevitably), but it is one onrush of an album. Violent, grinding and vigor-pumped riffing with charisma, some atmosphere and can easily be enjoyed. Recommended for fans of Behemoth, Polish death metal or even just death metal in general.